Soft-spoken New Yorker Making Noise

David Teel

JAMES CITY (COUNTY) — New York City is known for Broadway, bagels and gangland slayings. Its mean streets produce hardened survivors with cocky attitudes and loud voices.

All of which makes Bill Britton an odd study. He hails from the Staten Island section of the city and has played his share of stickball. But Britton's voice is soft, his attitude humble and his profession unique.

Britton is a touring golf professional, and suffice to say, the Big Apple does not breed golf professionals the way it does cab drivers. Britton, in fact, is the only New York City native currently playing the PGA Tour.

Saturday at the Anheuser-Busch Classic, Britton was the PGA Tour's best player from anywhere. His 7-under-par 64 was the day's low round by two strokes and vaulted him to within two shots of Ed Dougherty's lead entering today's final round.

The leaderboard is hardly uncharted territory for Britton. He won the 1989 Centel Classic, was seventh at the 1990 Masters, fourth at the '90 PGA Championship, third at the '91 Kemper Open and second at this year's Northern Telecom Open. He has finished between 34th and 57th on the money list the past three years and is 44th this season.

``I've been playing pretty steady golf,'' Britton said.

Youth golf was more of an adventure. Britton and his buddies used to sneak onto the Silver Lakes golf course in Staten Island at night and play holes 5-8 until darkness chased them home.

``Nobody seemed to care,'' Britton said of his group's failure to pay greens fees. ``We'd walk right past (the pro shop) and wave to people. I grew up in an environment that was not highly competitive. We just played for fun.''

Britton, with the help of Jim Albus, a New York club pro now playing the Senior Tour, progressed past the fun stage and won a few amateur tournaments. He ventured to Miami Dade North Junior College and won the National Junior College championship before transferring to the University of Florida, from where he graduated in 1979.

Britton immediately turned pro, and in 1982 he lost a playoff to Hal Sutton at the Walt Disney World Classic. But soon thereafter, Britton lapsed into a horrific slump.

``I had three awful years and didn't know what the answer was,'' he said.

Britton retooled his swing, and his comeback was finalized at the 1989 Centel Classic. He led after three rounds and earned his only professional victory when the final round was rained out.

``It's not like winning the U.S. Open by making a 10-footer on the last hole,'' Britton said. ``That's everybody's dream. I would have preferred to shoot a great score on the last day to win.''

Britton appears primed to do just that today. He fired a final-round 66 at the Northern Telecom Open in February, only to lose by one shot to Lee Janzen. He finished tied for eighth at last year's Busch Classic.

For Saturday at least, Britton even had luck on his side. Standing on the tee at the par-3 17th hole, Britton was unsure about club selection. His caddy said 7-iron. Britton pulled a 6-iron and hit a poor shot that stopped 6 feet from the pin.

Seven-iron had been the proper club. But the weak 6-iron was good enough, and Britton rolled in the birdie putt. Tournaments can be decided on such breaks.

Victory or not today, Britton will be worlds away from Silver Lake and New York City.